NBC Network, O&Os and Affiliates

by Yuan Wang

NBC

NBC Network

The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City‘s Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago. NBC is sometimes referred to as the “Peacock Network,” due to its stylized peacock logo, created originally for its color broadcasts.[3]

NBC has 10 owned-and-operated stations and nearly 200 affiliates in the United States and its territories.[1][2]Archival footage from a majority of the NBC owned-and-operated stations is available for perusal and purchase through the NBCUniversal Archives.

New Deals of NBC in 2012

In June, NBC Sports Group had inked a new deal for TV, digital and mobile rights to the Tour de France through 2023[4]. The 10-year contract goes into effect in 2014, extending and expanding NBC’s current deal with the world’s preeminent cycling competition. It also includes coverage of other properties from the Amaury Sports Organization, including the Dakar Rally and the Paris Marathon. 19 of 21 stages of this year’s Tour will air on NBC Sports Network, with coverage averaging more than 13 hours per day, including a nightly three-hour studio show. NBC itself broadcasted stages seven and eight, the first time the Peacock broadcast network had televised the event live.

Aiming to expand its sports brand beyond TV, NBC was returning to its roots in radio.Peacock had created the NBC Sports Radio Network, to launch in September. NBC teamed with content syndicator Dial Global. Rival ESPN has long had a successful national radio franchise, with affiliates all over the country, and NBC saw reaching listeners in their cars — as well as on streaming services on various websites and other digital platforms — as a vital component of conglom growth. Peacock was looking for big returns from the London Olympics.The September radio start would coincide with the beginning of the pro and college football seasons, and NBC was hoping to use pigskin passion to help build a radio fanbase.[5]

In November, NBCUniversal had a new affiliation deal with Suddenlink, the nation’s seventh largest cabler, covering in and out-of-home viewing of NBCU’s cable networks and retransmission for NBC and Telemundo stations. [6]The agreement included expansive rights to carry the 2014 Winter Olympics, on-demand content from NBCUniversal’s cable and broadcast portfolio and accessed to live channels across multiple platforms, called TV Everywhere. Suddenlink’s service is called Suddenlink2GO.

NBC Owned-and-operated Television Stations

NBC Owned Television Stations is the division of NBCUniversal that includes 10 local television stations and their digital channels and websites, as well as a group of out-of-home properties and a production company. The 10 stations produce and deliver compelling and unique local news, information and entertainment programming to viewers in the communities they serve, which include New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco Bay Area, Dallas-Fort Worth, Washington, D.C., Miami, San Diego and Connecticut, with a goal of connecting to their audiences anytime and anywhere.

NBCUniversal said it’s doubling down on local coverage at its 10 owned-and-operated stations. The conglom’s stations group, NBC Owned Television Stations, will make 130 new hires and produce more local news. Many questioned the probability of NBCU’s continuing commitment to local news in the wake of its merger with Comcast. “Wait a few months” seemed to be the conventional wisdom around the topic. Now, 10 months after the merger’s completion, NBCU is making sure everyone knows whose idea this was. “The new leaders of the company very much believe in the owned television stations division, and they want to see these stations strong again,” said group prexy Valari Staab in a video released online by the company today[7]. NBC O&Os will produce more local news in addition to launching consumer and investigative units in five markets, the company said.

Affiliates

NBC has nearly 200 affiliates in the United States and its territories. This section will focus on what happened between NBC and affiliates in 2012.

After being dumped by the NBC affiliate earlier in June, NBC’s The Playboy Club has found a new home at Salt Lake City’s My Network affiliate, KMYU.[8] The station aired the soapy drama, which stars Eddie Cibrian and Amber Heard in a 1960s-set club where crooners, mob bosses and politicians mingle among Chicago’s elite, in its regular Monday night slot this fall.

In August, GLAAD released a statement about the Salt Lake City affiliate KSL-TV’s decision not to air The New Normal, and GLAAD president Herndon Graddick invited KSL CEO Jeff Simpson to meet with the group.[9] In addition, the show’s star, Ellen Barkin, expressed her concern via Twitter, saying, “Shame on you @kslcom.” Here is GLAAD’s statement: “Same-sex families are a beloved part of American television thanks to shows like Modern Family, Glee and Grey’s Anatomy,” said GLAAD President Herndon Graddick. “While audiences, critics and advertisers have all supported LGBT stories, KSL is demonstrating how deeply out of touch it is with the rest of the country.” “We invite Jeff Simpson to sit down with GLAAD and local LGBT families. We know that if he would, he would see that not only are our families normal, but by citing ‘crude and rude’ content and refusing to affirm LGBT families, KSL and Mr. Simpson are sending a dangerous message to Utah. They should make that right.”

In September 12^th, NBC News has sent managers at its affiliated stations an apology for putting them through severe criticism after Today failed to carry the moment of silence the nation observed on Sept. 11, according to a report by the New York Times［10］. However, Steve Capus, president of NBC News, did not apologize for the decision not to show the President and first lady as they called for the moment of silence. Capus also did not issue a public apology and there was no official press release to the media about NBC’s actions.

In September, NBC had ironed out its plans for Election Night coverage at the national and local levels, and had tweaked its model to give affiliates a better opportunity to report on local elections. Partner stations get a one-minute news window coming out of the first commercial pod in each half-hour — typically around 10 minutes into each half-hour — a new development with which most seem pleased. The stations also get six minutes for their reporting and commercials at 0:24 and 0:54 in each hour. The network said it was a prime opportunity for the stations “to associate your anchors and reporters with Brian Williams and the NBC News political coverage team.”[11]

In October, nine NBC affiliates across Ohio was joining up to broadcast a live 60-minute debate between the incumbent, Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown, and challenger, Republican State Treasurer Josh Mandel.[12] The debate takes place Oct. 25 in Cincinnati and will air live at 7 p.m. on Ohio’s NBC affiliates.

References

[1] “Company Overview”. NBC Universal. Retrieved March 25, 2008.

[2] “List of United States over-the-air television networks”. Entomology. Retrieved March 25, 2008.

[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NBC

[4] http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/486429-NBC_Sports_Group_Extends_Tour_de_France_Deal_Through_2023.php

[5] http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118055320

[6] http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118062479?refCatId=14

[7] http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118045309?refCatId=14

[8] http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118045309

[9] http://www.glaad.org/blog/utah-screening-new-normal-announced-ksl-tv-voices-support-lgbt-families

[10] http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/nbc-news-apologizes-today-wtc-steve-capus-369961

[11] http://www.mediabistro.com/tvspy/london-2012-for-nbc-affiliates-olympics-coverage-means-life-in-the-hollywood-squares-set_b56481